Why Marriott Is Poised to Pull Back

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, hotel operator Marriott International (NASDAQ: MAR) has received an alarming one-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Marriott and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Marriott facts

Headquarters (founded)

Bethesda, Md. (1971)

Market Cap

$12.8 billion

Industry

Lodging

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$2.5 billion

Management

Chairman Willard Marriott, Jr.

President/CEO Arne Sorenson

Return on Capital (average, past 3 years)

21.4%

Cash/Debt

$221.0 million/$3.3 billion

Dividend Yield

1.6%

Competitors

Intercontinental Hotels

Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Wyndham Worldwide

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 30% of the 467 members who have rated Marriott believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just last week, one of those Fools, Yacabe, succinctly summed up the Marriott bear case for our community:

The hotel industry is undergoing some interesting times lately. I think the most important thing to remember is the fact that our economy is very volatile as of late. I mean let's think for a second: We've been under sequester for 4 months now, and mass furloughing has become common practice in several government agencies. This means that any industry selling luxuries or extras is going to take a hit. This includes hotels. In a country that's trying to save money, hotels are going to have a very rough time. Expansion and added incentives aren't going to be enough for Marriott.

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